Sword Forging Manor.
After dinner, a group of people gathered around.
Some sang karaoke loudly around the bonfire, their voices shaking the Mountain Villa. Some hid in corners with torches, telling ghost stories. Some were drawing blueprints, while others hid in corners selling videos. Everyone was having a wonderful time, completely free and at ease.
Su Yu Niang and Jiu Cai Rong sat before the bonfire, chatting.
Su Yu Niang understood the ways of the world and did not mention Jiu Cai Rong's affairs at all.
After all, anyone who had ever been cheated on knew that such people cared most about their dignity.
The two of them had their own opinions about officially opening the Game Main Quest—Blacksmith Shop today. Now, during the bonfire feast before logging off for the night, they could finally discuss it to their hearts' content.
Su Yu Niang poked at the bonfire with a wooden stick, sending sparks dancing into the air.
"While you were away today, I also explored some of the world's background and read a few books on the side. Cultivation really does have a huge problem. It's incredibly difficult. It looks like even if we barely manage to enter the door, we won't be able to advance through the subsequent realms."
Jiu Cai Rong pretended to be calm, acting as though nothing had happened in reality. "I told you, if we can't level up by fighting monsters, then we should honestly cultivate. There's no way we can outcompete the natives by rolling ourselves to death."
"But although we can't cultivate, I've already formed some opinions about the cultivation system!"
"Oh?" Su Yu Niang was curious.
Several players nearby pricked up their ears and silently came over.
When playing a game, one had to learn to find the tricks. Personal understanding of the game was crucial at times like this; it could save one from taking many detours and help one climb the combat rankings faster.
After all, the "Sword Forging Competition" clearly looked like it would have a combat ranking in the future.
It was just that the first season had not started yet.
Jiu Cai Rong smiled, looking as though everything was under control.
"The cultivation system isn't meant to turn us into high-level cultivators. It's merely meant to let us barely enter the door, plant a Spiritual Root, and gain an Innate Divine Ability. Then it makes us kill ourselves to serve as materials, installing our Spiritual Roots into weapons."
Su Yu Niang's eyes gradually lit up. "So that's how it is. The cultivation system exists to serve the Game Main Quest, Blacksmith Shop!"
Exactly!
Hoping to cultivate was unrealistic. The game's name itself made it clear that this wasn't the kind of game where one cultivated and leveled up.
As for these Spiritual Roots, we only needed to enter through the door, right?
We could become our own forging materials. The Innate Divine Abilities from our own Spiritual Roots would enter magic artifacts and become the artifacts' divine abilities!
We were each just a low-level monster.
"Hahaha! Why search for monsters? I shall surpass the monsters myself!" The smile at the corners of Su Yu Niang's lips widened, and she instantly envisioned a beautiful future.
This mountain, these waters, these trees—everywhere was filled with Spiritual Roots.
In that instant, all the trees and flowers throughout the Mountain Villa became C, B, A, and SSR cards in her eyes.
Although most of these Spiritual Roots were wild grass and only barely counted as the lowest-grade Spiritual Roots after being nourished with spiritual energy—the kind not even dogs wanted—
they no longer dared hope for too much.
Shennong tasting a hundred herbs!
They would test the divine ability of every Spiritual Root, plant them in their own bodies, and treat themselves as monsters to be hammered into weapons, seeing what spells the forged weapons would carry!
This setting was far too enticing to explore!
Weapons with infinite combinations and an infinite card pool!
Jiu Cai Rong said, "But this should be an advanced playstyle. Every forging attempt costs the blacksmith one life, and they have to grow a Spiritual Root each time. The failure rate for forging may also be very high! After all, these are demonic artifacts that take a path as sharp as a sword's edge!"
Su Yu Niang nodded firmly.
Who didn't know that a weapon-forging system was a bottomless pit?
Every attempt required a great deal of preparation.
Jiu Cai Rong continued, "I suggest specifically finding a group of talented scholars to train! They wouldn't forge weapons; they would be responsible for cultivation!"
"I'll call this profession an Enchanter!"
"Their task would be to read books in Sword Forging Manor, practice Opening the Three Flowers, become cultivators, and then use their Spiritual Root divine abilities to enchant weapons, adding various attributes and special effects."
Su Yu Niang nodded repeatedly as she listened.
In her eyes, the foreshadowing surrounding cultivation must have been for this.
However, the Enchanter profession was even more exalted than that of a blacksmith!
It was also rarer, with a rather high barrier to entry!
After all, not everyone could plant a Spiritual Root.
Players had to spend Magic Coins to revive, and that was a huge expense!
If they poured their lives into it, smashed in all kinds of materials, and still failed at forging, they wouldn't even recover their initial investment.
Of course,
if they succeeded, they could forge a level-less magic artifact and soar straight into the heavens.
"I estimate this path won't work in the short term. Right now, the probability of Opening the Three Flowers is too low. We'd only die for nothing. We can't afford something so high-end."
Su Yu Niang thought for a moment and said, "I really want to give it a try. After some more time, I'll take the lead in Opening the Three Flowers, open the Heaven and Earth Bridge, comprehend spiritual energy, and then use my corpse to forge weapons."
To be honest, she had tried it today as well.
She had discovered that she had no talent for forging.
The weapons she made were a chaotic mess—rough, irritable, and hot-tempered, just like her. She simply wasn't cut out for this.
She was quite passionate about cultivation, though. After trying to read today, she felt that her comprehension was at least that of a cultivator with exceptionally high talent.
Even if her cultivation talent was as high as the heavens, she could never truly cultivate successfully. But becoming an exalted Enchanter would be quite nice.
"Then we've more or less figured out the game's forging rules." Su Yu Niang grew smug.
"Indeed. This is basically the logic behind the Blacksmith Shop's gameplay," Jiu Cai Rong said.
The two of them had been leading the group, after all.
Otherwise, an ordinary person might play for several weeks without necessarily managing to obtain information from the Old Steward through hints and probing questions, let alone analyze and combine the clues to reach a conclusion.
"We're really good at this game!" Su Yu Niang said smugly.
Jiu Cai Rong said, "Now we need substitutes to practice on. The crows overhead seem pretty good."
"We just don't know what Innate Divine Abilities crows have, or what abilities their bones and monster blood will grant a magic artifact."
"To be honest, our Money Boy should also count as a type of monster. Even without planting a Spiritual Root, it should still be possible to forge magic artifacts with one. The cost-performance is just too low, and its divine ability is definitely garbage."
Su Yu Niang smiled. "Indeed. Using ourselves as Money Boy to pay with our lives would be a huge loss. It only becomes cost-effective to sacrifice ourselves after becoming cultivators."
Jiu Cai Rong also felt that the more they talked, the clearer everything became. He burst out laughing. "Exactly! Could an illiterate Money Boy be worth anything? Only an educated high-achiever can fetch a good price!"
After this systematic analysis, everyone listened with unrestrained satisfaction, experiencing the exhilarating feeling of parting the dark clouds to reveal the bright moon.
It was as though they had completed a deduction storyline.
This method of exploring the forging mechanics was quite interesting too. It was obvious that a great deal of care had gone into it.
"Then let's set a small goal: capture a crow tomorrow." Su Yu Niang stood up and said, "I've wanted to deal with it for a long time. We'll restore clear skies to this Mountain Villa!"
She just didn't know whether the crow's habits were the same as in reality.
Otherwise, they could prepare some food, set a trap with a birdcage, and wait for it to come down on its own.
At the same time, the archers had to be ready as well. If the trap failed, they could simply shoot it down alive.
Come to think of it,
she did know a thing or two about bows, arrows, and firearms.
That was the kind of fun rich young ladies enjoyed. She also liked violence, and often went to the shooting range.
"I'm probably not very practiced with a bow and arrow. After we make one tomorrow, I'll have to practice my accuracy," Su Yu Niang said. "Kill that crow and forge weapons for our brothers."
"Good!"
"Good!"
"Go for it, Sis! I've disliked those crows for a long time!"
A group of people shouted around the bonfire, thoroughly delighted.
That sense of achievement from developing step by step and proceeding cautiously—that was the joy of farming.
Jiu Cai Rong nodded as well. "Then tomorrow I'll ask the Old Steward for the detailed method of forging magic artifacts and try to produce the first magic artifact."
Before you continue